Johnny’s talent Toma Ikuta gets big chance with ‘No Longer Human’

There is already a lot of buzz being generated over the much-anticipated movie version of the classic novel by Osamu Dazai, “Ningen Shikkaku” (No Longer Human). To mark the start of filming, actors Toma Ikuta, Yusuke Iseya, Eiko Koike, Shigeru Muroi, Go Morita, Shinobu Terashima, Michiyo Okusu, Yoshiko Mita, director Genjiro Arato, and Tsuguhiko Kadokawa, chairman and CEO of the film company Kadokawa Pictures Inc, attended a big media event.

The novel is regarded by many as reflective of the thoughts and emotions of Dazai himself during his final years (he committed suicide shortly after the book was released in 1948). The story follows the life of Yozo Oba, a boy born into a wealthy household who grapples with the meaning of life and an excessive self-consciousness as he spirals downward into self-destruction.

Portraying the complex protagonist is Ikuta, 24, a Johnny’s Jimusho talent, who is kicking off his career as a movie actor with this leading role. He acknowledged his lack of experience and said he hopes to learn from his fellow thespians and go with the flow of the story to approach his character’s insanity as naturally as possible. “I’ve only read the book twice even though I was ready to read it about a hundred times, because the director stopped me,” Ikuta said. “He wanted me to come to the set with a fresh outlook [on the story].”